this is written assuming you are using a beer growler or other 64oz container, but, generally speaking the water-to-coffee ratio is liiiike 8:1…. i love using a beer growler with dark glass though

  • get 1.5 cups ground coffee. if you have some crap/cheapo coffee laying around, this is the time to get rid of it/let it shine in a way that it won’t usually, although obviously your favorite fancy shmancy blend will be well-served in this context too

overview: basically you put the coffee in a container, fill the container with the right amount of water and let it sit in a cool, dark spot for 12-24 hours. i prefer longer brew times but usually get impatient and pull it at like the 20-hour mark or so.

finer-grain steps:

  1. alternate adding a little coffee at a time and running a little water over it in a circular motion, repeat until all the coffee’s in there and then fill the rest of the growler up with water. i usually add the grounds in about 5 additions. this makes sure it starts to pre-soak evenly.
  2. when it’s all in thurr, cap the growler and lay it on its side to expose as much of the grounds as possible to the water’s surface area. do this gently, because excessive agitation of the grounds is not desirable in this process. leave it for 5-10 minutes, then gently rock the growler back and forth on its side a few times to make sure all grounds are evenly wet — then slowly stand it back up (if you go too fast all the grounds will rocket up to the bottleneck and sit above the water level). or you can store the thing on its side if you have room.
  3. put it away. i like to actually brew it at room temperature, but you can always a/b test and see if you like it better when it spends the 24 hours in the fridge instead.
  4. after the 24 hours have elapsed, strain out the grounds. i just use a fine mesh thing and it is plenty sufficient, but a nut milk bag or cheesecloth or coffee filter are the obvious choices if you want it 100% unmuddied, derp.
  5. after brewing, chill it.

now you have coffee concentrate. CONCENTRATE. if you try to drink an 8oz mug of this stuff you will probably have negative consequences of some kind of other, be they cardiac or psychological

  • optional: if you own those heat-safe freezer pearls or something similar, great — if not, pour some of the coffee into ice cube trays and freeze so you can have ice coffee that doesn’t dilute… cuz i like it to stay pretty concentrated.

consumption: i guess most people would dilute with water…? or make a latte of some kind? but i just like to do this:

2-3 fingers of cold coffee in a tall glass, with 2-3 coffee ice cubes OR nut milk ice cubes, and a little sea salt sprinkled on the ice. seriously!

sometimes i will do coffee & nut milk in 1:1 ratio, or 2:1. make stripped-down pumpkin spice latte with pumpkin seed milk and a little cinnamon and give the finger to starbucks